AS THE WORLD TURNS: Mothers in the military

Why does the United States send the mothers of infants and toddlers off to fight a foreign war, asks Allan Carlson.

Why does the United States send the mothers of infants and toddlers off to fight a foreign war?

Make no mistake: We are the exception here. In the whole sweep of human history, no other nation - not Soviet Russia, nor the Iraqi Baathists, nor the egalitarian Scandinavians - has intentionally placed young mothers in harm's way such as American military planners have done in Iraq.

The strong and normal human instinct is to protect infants, toddlers and their mothers. Indeed, their well-being and security form the central purposes of every healthy nation. From the smallest tribe to the greatest empire, the human rule has been that all others must sacrifice, and even die, to protect the mothers of the young, for they are a people's future.

...The costs of this great social experiment have yet to be counted. We can safely assume, though, that the children left behind will pay the largest price. Mothers play unique, irreplaceable roles for newborns and toddlers.

Social science research shows that young children effectively abandoned by their mothers for lengthy periods are much more likely to suffer emotional and mental disorders, more likely in later life to be in trouble with the law and abuse drugs, and less likely to succeed in school than children with their mothers available.

Grandparents, day-care centers and even fathers are second-best substitutes.